About the Book

Book: Of Dawn and Embers (The Fireborn Epic Book Three)

Author: Gillian Bronte Adams

Genre: YA Epic Fantasy

Release Date: January 13, 2026

He rides a dawnling, a steed of light and glory, destined to restore.

Jakim Ha’Nor will save his people, or so says the prophecy that upended his life and drove his brothers to betray him. Now, he has returned as the dawnrider to fulfill his purpose and reconcile with his brothers—only to find himself embroiled in a war.

Captured in the fallout of a deadly attack, Rafi grapples with the ghosts of the past. His brother is alive but no longer himself, and Rafi will stop at nothing to save him. Farther up the coast, Ceridwen strives to reignite the embers of the rebellion to burn the empire down. When Rafi is sentenced to execution before the imperial court, Ceridwen must rally every spear and steed she can for a blistering strike at the heart of the capital.

But the empire’s schemes are already in motion, and Jakim’s two missions collide when an unexpected encounter with one of his brothers reveals the true threat behind the imperial thirst for ancient secrets. Hidden forces intend to unleash a cataclysmic power, spurring Ceridwen, Rafi, and Jakim to challenge the full, crushing might of the empire for the fate of the world.

Stars weep and ash falls as the tides of battle propel the Fireborn queen, the Sea-Demon prince, and the Dawnrider priest toward a meteoric clash in this thunderous series finale.

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About the Author

Gillian Bronte Adams is a sword-wielding, horse-riding, wander-loving fantasy author, rarely found without a coffee in hand and rumored to pack books before clothes when she hits the road. Working in youth ministry left her with a passion for journeying alongside children and teens. (It also enhanced her love of coffee.) Now, she writes novels that follow outcast characters down broken roads, through epic battles, and onward to adventure. And at the end of a long day of typing, she can be found saddling her wild thing and riding off into the sunset, seeking adventures of her own (and more coffee).

More from Gillian

This is, at its core, a book about hope. I discovered that fact partway through the writing process. Of Dawn and Embers is the cataclysmic finale to an epic fantasy trilogy where warriors bond with elemental warhorses and the action sequences strike with ever-increasing intensity from page one, and I was halfway through drafting it before I realized that beneath the searing visuals, the blistering pace, and the moments that set your heart thundering in your chest, this story sings with hope as a powerful undercurrent.

But you’re the author, you say. How could you not already know that?

Some authors go into each project with a specific theme in mind. They begin fully aware of the deeper meaning of the story they want to tell, and they intentionally structure the sequences of the unfolding plot and character arcs to match. I, on the other hand—while an avid worldbuilder who loves creating layered fantasy stories with multiple characters facing their own paths of growth—often wind up surprised by the overarching themes that also surface through those characters’ individual journeys.

Themes of identity and worth. Of finding the beauty in our broken stories. And, in this case, of hope.

Not the soft and feathery kind, fluttering in your chest. Or the brightly optimistic kind that lends itself to cheerful sayings. But the kind of hope that dares to kneel in the ashes, with blood on its teeth and knuckles, and trust that the sun will rise again. The kind of hope that endures and keeps on enduring. The kind of hope that is as stubborn and resilient as an ember’s deep and fiery glow, waiting to be rekindled with a touch of the morning breeze.

That’s the kind of hope that I find myself clinging to in my own life. Because we live in an age where discouragement can seem rampant, flung in our faces with each news cycle and with every moment spent scrolling on this or that screen.

Even once I uncovered that underlying theme, it wasn’t until I reached the end of the first draft and started working back through that I realized just how deeply it had already been woven into the story. It was there in each breathtaking moment of connection between characters, in the first touch of gold breaking through the cloud-wrack, in the hearty meals shared around a fireside, in the friends who refuse to leave one another to face the darkness alone, and in the loyalty that proves a greater defense than any shield or weapon.

It fairly came singing to me off every page, a reflection on hope at the heart of the book.

On the ache of hope. The seeming foolishness of hope. The defiance of hope. The way hope can feel like fresh air to oxygen-starved lungs, and the way it can cause your chest to ache with the fear of losing it again. The way it holds you up and keeps you standing long after you expected to be on your knees. And the way a lack of hope can leave you grasping for some sense of control, lashing out in desperation to find your own way forward after you put your hope in something that proved incapable of enduring.

In the prologue, one of the main characters, Jakim, compares holding onto hope in the midst of hardship as a candle flame that he has had to grip tightly to shield from the buffeting winds to keep it from going out. And “lately, it had felt like the only way to keep it alive was to grasp it so tightly it singed him.”

If you’ve ever faced the long and aching wait for a hope to be realized, you know what it feels like for hope to sting. Proverbs 13:12 (NIV) talks about how “hope deferred makes the heart sick” but Hebrews 6:19 tells us where we can find that true and lasting hope that exists as “an anchor for our souls”: through the One who stepped into the darkest night in our place and took on our own hopeless state so that He could become our hope.

A hope that endures. That breathes life. That does not falter or fail. That doesn’t slip away. That isn’t in danger of burning out if we grip it too tightly.

A hope that holds onto us.

Later on, Jakim comes to the restorative realization that “Hope was not a candle flame. It was the dawn. Rising again and again after darkest night.”

Rising without any effort of his own. Rising beyond the pain of his circumstances. Rising steadfastly day by day.

And throughout the wild ups and downs of this book, through the aching chill of the dark nights and the resplendent glories of the new dawns, I hope that readers will walk away with that same assurance singing hope into their souls.

Author Interview

What is your favorite genre of books? Why?

For as long as I can remember, my favorite genre has been epic fantasy. It started when my dad did The Hobbit as a read aloud when I was five years old. He followed it with The Lord of the Rings, and I have vivid memories of laying along the back of the chair behind him and reading over his shoulder while he read aloud. Then, when I turned seven, he gave me my own copy of The Lord of the Rings, and I carried that giant red book around with me everywhere. Tolkien’s epic tales forged my understanding of story, built my love of heroic virtues like sacrifice and honor, and helped me cultivate an appreciation for the beauty of the natural world.

I truly believe that so much of what I now love about an epic fantasy story—the vivid worlds, the depth of themes, the courage of ordinary people, and the grand stakes—were formed by those early years I spent reading The Lord of the Rings. And since then, I’ve discovered so many other incredible stories that have expanded and reinforced my love for the genre.

Are you a one project at a time author or do you have multiple projects going at once?

I enjoy having several projects to brainstorm at any given time, but when it comes to actually drafting, I tend to immerse myself fully in just one. I love the opportunity to sink deeply into a particular storyworld and the perspectives of specific characters, so that any spare moments I have while I’m doing mundane tasks can also be spent thinking, dreaming, and imagining about what might happen next. Some people relish bouncing between multiple projects, but I find that my slower writing process thrives on more of a deep focus on one story at a time.

How has your life experience helped in your writing journey?

In many ways, my latest series, The Fireborn Epic, feels like the perfect intersection of so much of my life experience so far. It offered the opportunity to blend my years of experience working with horses as the equestrian director at a youth camp with my love for epic fantasy stories and my propensity to nerd out about historical warfare. My family spent several years living overseas when I was very young, and I think that experience inspired my curiosity for other cultures and ways of living, and after traveling internationally as an adult as well, I loved the opportunity to pull on that appreciation as I built out the peoples and cultures we meet in this series.

When you’re a writer, no experience is wasted. Everything has the potential to become fuel for the pen, whether it’s an incredible experience—like seeing beautiful new settings while traveling or forming a friendship that grows into something more—or something unpleasant or painful, like facing rejection or heartache. And while none of us (writers or otherwise) welcome the unpleasant experiences that come with life in a broken world, I do think there is something beautiful and almost redemptive about being able to draw upon hard and painful experiences (as well as the exciting and joyous) and transform them into art that can speak to others too.

What is the funniest thing to happen in the process of writing one of your books?

I switched to a new writing program when I was working on the first full draft of Of Fire and Ash, the first book in The Fireborn Epic, and I didn’t realize that the word count settings were a little bit complicated. I was in the process of both writing and editing a particular section of the story, so my word count was constantly in flux, going up one day and down the next, and because of that, I didn’t realize that the total word count wasn’t actually tracking every word I had written. By the time I figured it out, probably a good two months later, I had written 50,000 words more than I thought I had.

Since I write epic fantasy, my books tend to be on the longer side, but yes, that was still a lot of words that I had to go back and clean up in the second draft. So now, I carefully check all of my manuscript settings!

How do you relax after a long day of writing?

I enjoy night writing, so a lot of times, my relaxation comes right before I go to bed. I enjoy curling up with my dog and cat and watching an episode of something to help turn my brain off from the story problems. While I love reading, I often find that my brain is too busy after a day of writing to really focus on more words, so I tend to prefer to start my day with reading instead. I also love any opportunity to get outside and let the beauty of God’s creation refill my creative well, whether that’s through hiking or taking a walk or a run or getting out on a kayak at the local state park.

Where do you find your greatest inspiration?

Inspiration comes from everywhere! That’s the coolest thing I think. I get inspired by reading, by watching films, by playing the occasional video game, by discovering new interesting facts about history or about nature, by spending time outdoors, by just letting my mind rabbit trail and cultivating curiosity. So for me, I find that it tends to be so varied, and each project ends up drawing on bits of inspiration from so many different places. That said, we do live in a world where we have constant access to entertainment, information, and distraction, and that continuous bombardment can prove detrimental to inspiration if we don’t build in time to think and let our minds wander. So I do try to cultivate a practice of maintaining “quiet time” as well so that ideas and inspiration can actually take root.

Who is your favorite author? Why?

It’s so hard to narrow it down to just one! I tend to love specific authors and their works for individual reasons. I’ve already mentioned J.R.R. Tolkien so that one probably goes without further explanation. I’ve also read and loved a number of Brandon Sanderson’s books, and I admire the way that he builds into his fandom and seeks to uplift other authors as well. I love the way Maggie Stiefvater writes. Her prose is fantastic. Lani Taylor is a masterful storyteller and her wordcraft is beautiful. C.M. Banschbach writes incredible stories about brother bonds that combine fantastic settings with awesome action sequences that always pack a punch, so I’m always delighted to pick up one of her books too.

Do you have extensive outlines when writing or do you write a book as you go?

While every project I’ve written has been a little different, I think I fall somewhere in the middle between an outliner and a discovery writer. I do a lot of intentional thinking before starting and outline my main plot points and story beats, but I also end up discovering a lot about my characters and my world and how we get from one plot point to another during the drafting process. I don’t see myself sitting down and fully discovery writing a story from start to finish ever again (though I have in the past!) and at the same time, I find the idea of fully outlining every single chapter and scene and emotional moment overwhelming … and a little bit constrictive?

So I love to have the big plot points established and to have an overall sense of my character’s growth journey before beginning, and then I like to write my way from plot point to plot point and let the character, story, and world grow organically as I do so.

Do you remember the first book you read? What sort of impact did it make on you?

Since my dad started me on Tolkien’s works so young—first as a read aloud and then on my own—those books are some of the first ones I remember reading. Of course, there were your typical children’s books before then, and I know I didn’t go from sounding out “cat” to immediately reading The Lord of the Rings, but Tolkien’s books are the first ones I recall. I think I learned so much by listening to my dad read while I followed along over his shoulder, so even though I was only seven when I was given my own copy of The Lord of the Rings, I was able to understand. Those books taught me vocabulary, my love for rich language, and, like I mentioned earlier, truly formed my understanding of story. So now, if I can write stories that make people feel the way those books made me feel, I will be truly happy!

What do you need in your writing space to help you stay focused?

Sticky notes. My story notebook for a million brainstorming notes. My earbuds so I can play epic film scores. A candle for atmosphere. My cat and dog to keep me company—they truly are the best. And a timer so I can do timed focus sessions where I am not allowed to look away from my story until the timer goes off. You’d be surprised how much it helps keep your brain on track!